Skip to content

Volunteers prepare for missions trip to Haiti

By Greg Nikkel Volunteer members of a missions team headed to Haiti in February were handed rusty saws, manual drills, a hammer and nails, along with a two-by-four and a two-by-six, and were split into two teams.
Haiti group

By Greg Nikkel
Volunteer members of a missions team headed to Haiti in February were handed rusty saws, manual drills, a hammer and nails, along with a two-by-four and a two-by-six, and were split into two teams.
Each team was asked to build a birdhouse without the use of a square or carpenter’s pencil.
This was a team-building exercise for the team, comprised of 10 residents of Weyburn and area, plus two former Weyburn residents who live in B.C., who will be heading to the impoverished island nation to build houses, as that country continues to struggle to recover from a devastating hurricane a few months ago.
According to team leader Brian Hopfe, he devised this exercise as a way to try and prepare the group for what they might encounter in terms of work conditions in the heat and humidity of Haiti. The birdhouses the teams made will be part of the fundraising pie auction, which will be held at the Weyburn Free Methodist Church on Friday, Jan. 13, with all proceeds to help them buy supplies they can take with them to Haiti.
The group will leave from the Regina airport on Feb. 16, and will arrive back here on Feb. 27.
“I want to be able to help out. It’s so sad, all the misfortune they’ve suffered, and we’re pretty blessed here in Canada. … There’s so much devastation,” said Hopfe, adding he’s also excited to meet up with friends he made on the last two trips he made to Haiti.
He’s also looking forward to leading this team of 12 people with the Haitian organization Haiti Arise. “The idea of us being a team is so cool. You develop amazing friendships, even with the Haitians.”
The group will be building houses that cost about $1,000 US each, particularly in an area that was hit very hard by Hurricane Matthew, many people losing everything they had in the storm in the region called “The Finger”, about 100 km away from the capital city of Port Au Prince.
“A challenge for us is we’ll be about three hours away from Haiti Arise with no facilities in the area.”
For assistant team leader Brad Alexander, this will be his third trip to Haiti. “The first time I went was definitely an eye-opening experience, because we live in such a well-off country.”
Brad said he discovered in his time there “their faith is so great, in actuality I get ministered to, and it’s not me so much helping them. It’s an amazing faith-building journey because you see how strong their faith is. “
It’s not so much that they’re going down to show them what to do, but they are working alongside Haitian nationals to help provide places to live to people who have nothing left, he added.
“It seems that Haiti is always dealing with something, whether it’s an earthquake or a hurricane. I’m sure we’ll have lots of opportunities to help out,” said Alexander.
For Grade 11 student Shameeka MacDonald, this will be her first time to not only go to Haiti, but to leave the province.
“I’ve always liked helping people, and this was an opportunity to go and help people,” she said. “I hope we get to work with the children too, and I’m hoping to learn more about their culture and language.”
She has received a lot of support for her trip, including doing some fundraising at the Comp, and hopes she will be able to develop a stronger relationship with God as a result of helping people in Haiti.
There is a list of supplies the team has been asked to bring down to Haiti with them, said Hopfe, including the following: good used laptops and cases, twin sheet sets, paint brushes, paint pails and liners, thick cement paint rollers, dish cloths and dish towels, latex gloves, utility knives, soccer balls and pumps, six door knobs without locks, key tags, Allen wrenches, and gently-used board games, such as trivia games. Office supplies which are needed include white board markers and brushes, jump drives, pens, spiral bound notebooks, and sales receipt books.
If people can donate any of these items, they are need by Feb. 11, and can be dropped off at the Free Methodist Church.
The goal of Haiti Arise is to build 200 homes by about May or June, and this will be part of the task for the Weyburn group.